TECHNOLOGY AND LABOUR
Fourth Industrial Revolution is not a silver bullet for an ill-prepared nation
Governments that jump quickly from one solution to another are less successful than those that stick to a plan
Technology is lauded as a game changer for humans. It illustrates how the often complicated and impossible can be simplified and achieved. World Economic Forum chairman Klaus Schwab defines it as "the advent of cyber-physical systems involving entirely new capabilities for people and machines. The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents entirely new ways in which technology becomes embedded within societies and even our human bodies." At times, though, the excitement about technology and what it achieves can create the belief that it can be the panacea to most human problems. That belief can quickly become a societal belief. Over the past eight months it’s been interesting to observe how talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution has gained momentum in South African policy-making circles. Advanced technologies such as robotic arms, self-driving trucks, automation and mechanisation and 3D printing are not new to SA’s agriculture, manufacturing and mining. Some sectors of the economy...
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